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Welcome Friend,

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I'm so glad you're here. How has God been working in your life the last few weeks? I've seen God's handy work so slightly that I might have missed it without paying attention. I'll admit I easily dwell on the things going wrong rather than right—you know, focusing more on what God should be doing than He is doing.

This past weekend, among the dying of eggs, meal prepping, and attending Easter service, I witnessed the redeeming power of our God.

To redeem means to make an exchange. A gift card for the actual gift. A certificate for a massage. A coupon for a discounted item. What we have will be redeemed for something better.

In my life, there are parts I wish would/could be redeemed. Such as:

A difficult season for an easy, care-free one.

A struggling teenager for an easy-going, happy one.

A cancer diagnosis for cancer-free prognosis with no more treatments.

An aging body for a younger body.

We all have things we long to be redeemed. We want God to redeem circumstances like they never happened. Can He sweep them into a neat pile and dispose of them? If only life worked that way. We want the new without ever experiencing the old.

I'll be honest: I never imagined the painful potholes along my journey--the heart-wrenching, shoulder-dropping pain from the stunning surprises of one devastation after another. For too long, I wasted sleepless nights worrying about it all and believing God would redeem it a certain way, causing me to miss the beautiful way He IS redeeming it. My heart hurts, and my mind wrestles with the decisions the teenagers continue to make and the lack of progress in their walk with God. Instead of focusing on the heart of the teenager in front of me, I'm focused on the mistakes they made. Why are our eyes so focused on the lack?

But this past Monday evening at my husband's birthday dinner, I saw God's handy work as I glanced around at everyone laughing and enjoying each other’s company. There was genuine interaction instead of the usual tension and avoidance, and the bonds between siblings were strengthening.
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Every family has its imperfections and secrets.
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If we dwell so much on the brokenness, we’ll miss the beauty in our midst—the work of God’s hands and the legacy being forged from our struggles. It’s not all flawless, but the seven of us treasure the simple moments because we know we’re imperfect people who need redemption.
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Life seems sweeter on the other side of brokenness.
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You might not see the beauty in the brokenness right now—I didn’t either. But all those shattered dreams and plans are part of God’s handiwork, and He can transform them into something truly beautiful.

My point is that we all would like to make a few exchanges. But we can't go back in time and change the past. We can't erase what was done. We can only entrust our past, present, and future with a redeeming God. Nothing is wasted.

He doesn't remove it. He redeems it. Somehow, life becomes sweeter, and the joy is more profound when you know you've been redeemed.
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Beauty for ashes, gladness for mourning, praise for despair (Isa. 61: 1-4).

Friend, I have no doubt God has already done some powerful redeeming work in your life. Consider the unexpected gifts that have come lately. Read Psalm 103 and reflect on all that God IS doing.

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Blessings,

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